A quest for the bygone

With the passion of a detective

she launched a search operation, on the afternoon of her arrival.

Possessed by a ghost of the past,

she looked for little objects, doodles,

and old books.

 

In her quest for retrieving the old and elapsed

she stumbled upon a treasure

of useless memorabilia -

a dusty autograph book, stuck plastic sheets of picture albums,

her class 10 science notes, a stray letter by an old forgotten friend

and memoirs that lay trapped in an old maroon coloured diary.

 

She took each of these in her hands

and breathed in deep.

Apart from dust that made her sneeze,

she had a strange urge to narrate,

erstwhile tales to someone. Anyone.

 

Its now a favourite afternoon adventure.

Like kids who sneak out on summer holidays after their caretakers sleep,

she slowly steals away from her little one,

who sleeps oblivious to her mom’s clandestine noon activity.

 

Its been over two weeks,

and she continues to rummage the attic,

and dust laden cupboards,

seeking times and memories

that she wished were still around.